Wilco at Warsaw
After waiting for four hours to buy these tickets many months ago, the show finally came around on June 26th. I thought that since a lot people were willing to show up eight hours early to buy tickets, they were probably going to be there right at the 7:00 doors too. That was not the case. Wilco did not go on till 9:30 and played for a total of two hours and forty minutes. That Tuesday was a long night of standing. However once Wilco left the stage we cheered them on for three encores. The only other time I have seen them – at The Vic in Chicago circa 2003 – they only did two encores.
Some accused their new album of summoning The Eagles and all that is sour in Dad Rock but their sound is actually still experimental albeit there is less noise and some new songs could pass for light rock. At the show, Nels Cline – the oldest dude – was rogue figure in a black shirt and red pants, while the rest of the guys were decked out in metro-western wear. He shredded freely on the guitar, doing crazy stuff with octaves and holding chords forever. Their music has the same sophistication but of other Americana bands like The National but it lacks the sexiness, so people are quick to call it Dad Rock.
Maybe they are starting to show their age in their music, but Wilco still has some fire running through their blood. Tweedy said they could play as long as they wanted that night: “Every show this tour we have had a curfew. Curfews are for sucks.” Full of tour angst, he sounds like a kid or a dad mocking a kid, but either way the crowd – most of whom were younger than the band – could not get enough that night.
More photos after the jump.
